Quest Diagnostics introduced Care360 EHR at HIMSS 2010 ( Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society )Annual Conference, from March 1 - 4, 2010 in Atlanta.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, introduced Care360 EHR ( Electronic Health Record ), the next evolution of its innovative Care360 platform used by the company's growing base of 150,000 connected physicians. Unveiled at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society 2010 ( HIMSS 10 ) Annual Conference at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the Web-based solution enables physicians to simply embrace the benefits of digital healthcare without large capital costs or disruption to office workflow.

This announcement reinforces Quest Diagnostics' leadership position as a trusted and knowledgeable innovator of clinical IT solutions, and underscores the company's deep understanding of the information physicians value, and how they expect to access and use it to ensure quality patient care. More than twenty percent of U.S. physicians—and many of the country's leading hospitals, health plans, and regional health information exchanges—currently rely on the company's health care information solutions to provide better patient care.

Historically, EHR adoption in the United States has been very low, largely driven by high costs and difficulties around usability. Though eighty percent of the nation's patient care is delivered in small practices, most EHR offerings do not address the needs of the small-practice physician. The features and functionality of Care360 were developed using feedback Quest Diagnostics gathered from hundreds of physicians across the United States. Care360 EHR was specifically designed with the needs of the small practice in mind. It helps physicians embrace technology without incurring large capital costs or practice disruptions, including such features as patient demographics, clinical notes, problem lists, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports. Care360 EHR can generate a complete record of a clinical patient encounter, and automate and streamline the clinician's workflow.

To help the industry move forward in the absence of final meaningful use guidelines, Quest Diagnostics is offering all physicians a 90-day free trial period to adopt the Care360 EHR or ePrescribing solution. The company is committed that its Care360 EHR will fully comply with the EHR certification criteria once they are established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ( ARRA ), and is offering special pre-certification pricing until government meaningful use standards have been set. Under the terms of the promotion, physicians have the opportunity to try either Care360 EHR or Care360 ePrescribing free for a 90-day period. At the conclusion of the 90-day trial period, subscription rates will apply.

Care360 EHR is based on a modular architecture, allowing physicians to incrementally adopt new functionality at their own pace. Physician practices can transition from paper to electronic records over time, starting with Care360 Labs & Meds, with the option of Care360 ePrescribing, then moving to Care360 EHR when the practice is ready. Upgrading from one solution to the next is as simple as activating the additional modules, and scheduling training at a convenient time. Because the Care360 EHR is completely Web-based, the implementation timeline and the total cost of ownership is reduced. Physicians can access secure patient information anywhere, anytime and from any internet browser, and can view lab results and medical history as well as ePrescribe from their Apple iPhone or iPod touch. 

Source: Quest

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